The eastside of the Moniteau County Courthouse square is being renewed by catering entrepreneur Patrick Miller.
The painted boards on the front of the old Heck saddlery building, more recently used by the feather company, in the 500 block of East South Street, will be replaced with 8-foot-square window panes, reminiscent of the store front built after a 1906 fire.
The building will be the focal point of nearly one-block renewal, as the former doctors residence to the north and the open lot to the south will both be treated with brick walls at the sidewalk.
A spacious breezeway, which will fill the vacant lot now hidden with a chain-link fence, will connect the Heck building to the old livery building on the south corner.
The once-livery building will retain its white metal facade. Inside will be Miller's long-sought vision for a larger space to prepare meals for his customers.
"We like the rustic charm of this building," Miller said of he and wife VanDee.
A single door, being custom-made to match the double entry doors on the Heck building, will lead customers into the showroom inside the former feed store. Behind that, taking advantage of the 9-feet-high ceilings, most of the 2,500-square-feet will be filled with a cook line, separate from the dish-washing area, a baking station, a meat-slicing area and a room designated for smoking whole meats. Even further back, he'll add a smoker.
"This is where all the magic happens for me," Miller said while standing on a plywood floor and leaning on open studs that eventually will hold a kitchen counter.
Miller has operated his highly successful business, Sweet Chipotle, out of a space in High Point. But his total, current food preparation area is roughly the size of what his future showroom will be.
Needless to say, the new venture will provide the opportunity for more specialized equipment and, simply, workspace.
The Russellville native started this business 17 years ago and turned it into a full-time operation in 2003. He discovered a love for food at age 14, which took him to culinary school in Kansas City.
But he tired of the corporate world and moved home and opened his own business to do it his way. In addition to his own recipes, Miller will prepare custom food, such as a bride's mother's meatball recipe.
"We're known for our traditional food with a modern twist," Miller said. "I put my heart and soul into every dish I serve."
He hopes to be preparing his meals in the new location by spring. Then, the focus will move to creating a banquet center, seating about 350, in the main floor of the Heck building.
Again, he hopes to retain as much of the historic architecture and feel as possible, including tin ceilings, he said. The banquet center is on track to open before the Art Crawl in June.
"We're just fixing what was broken," he said.
After that, the plan is to convert the single-story house into an Air B&B property, which would be offered first to banquet clients, Miller said.
"There's nothing like this in Mid-Missouri," he said. "I've been looking for years for the right property and the right opportunities."